NASA releases rocket booster test slow-motion video

New York: US space agency NASA has added yet another feather in its cap when it released a new video showing rocket motor test in extreme slow-motion using an innovative new camera. The video offers a spectacular view of the QM-2 test by the company Orbital ATK on June 28, which test-fired a full-scale version of the solid rocket booster that will help launch NASA’s new Space Launch System megarocket on missions into deep space, Space.com reported on Sunday. To capture the booster test in high definition, NASA engineers and scientists used a High Dynamic Range Stereo X camera (HiDyRS-X). “Traditional high speed video cameras are limited to shooting in one exposure at a time, but HiDyRS-X can record multiple high speed video exposures at once, combining them into a high dynamic range video that adequately exposes all areas of the video image for comprehensive analysis,” NASA officials said in a video description. When Orbital ATK test-fired the QM-2 solid rocket booster, a stream of superhot flame was seen coming out of the rocket’s exhaust for nearly two minutes. This test was the second (and final) full-scale test of the solid rocket boosters to be used for NASA’s Space Launch System. The first test of QM-1 was completed in March 2015. Two of the boosters will be used to help launch the SLS rocket on missions beyond low-Earth orbit, the report said. NASA has planned to use the SLS rocket to launch its new Orion spacecraft to send astronauts on deep-space voyages to an asteroid, Mars and beyond. The first test flight of SLS and Orion is scheduled for launch in 2018. –IANS